Episode 1 – Joining the Army and Training In New Zealand

Episode One:

In this first episode we hear veterans of the New Zealand Army remembering the days when they first joined up, and their training at home, their garrison duties and courses undertaken, and all that went into preparing them for war later in Italy

Thank you – I have Dad’s similar interview recording covering the training period – he joined the 24th Battalion, North Africa and Italy finishing in Trieste – I enjoyed hearing a similar but different perspective.
Looking forward to the next episodes.
Firing 20 bullets from a rifle between joining up and departure – I guess bullets were expensive and in short supply – I think I would have paid for a few more target shooting sessions.

Thanks Phil. Sorry for the delay. Yes it is rather remarkable that the average soldier got so little in the way of live firing raining. Of course many young men back then had experience of shooting on farms, etc, rabbit and duck and deer hunting, etc, so we were not sending away a bunch of complete novices I guess, and they got a lot more live firing in Egypt’s training grounds before making it to the front lines.

I’d love to hear your father’s recording if possible. Is he still around today?